1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an IDC termination machine that terminates wires to an IDC connector in a semi-automatic manner, the invention more particularly relating to gripper members that hold the wire just prior to stuffing into IDC contacts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 show examples of an IDC connector 2 comprising an insulative housing 4 having cavities 6 therein for mounting of stamped and formed electrical terminals 8. The electrical terminals 8 have a contact section 10 for mating with complementary contacts of a complementary connector, and an IDC (insulation displacement contact) section 12 for connection to insulated conducting wires 14 of a cable 16. Interconnection of the wire 14 to the IDC contact section 12 is produced by stuffing the wire into IDC slots 18 of the IDC contact section which cuts through the insulative layer of the wire 14 thus making electrical contact with the inner conducting strands thereof.
Semi-automatic termination of the wires 14 to the terminals 8, is done by positioning the connector 2 on a support of a termination machine, and then positioning a wire 14 over the corresponding terminal by pulling the wire by hand between grippers of the termination machine that position the wire above the IDC terminal slot, the subsequent step being to insert a stuffer between the grippers and push the wire 14 into the IDC slots 18 of the terminal 8. The grippers are spring loaded and biased towards each other in such a manner to grip the wire such that it can be released and then end trimmed prior to actuation of the stuffer.
One of the problems with the prior art, however, is that the spring force in the grippers prevents the wire from being pulled very close to the IDC contact in the straightest possible manner from the end of the outer insulation 17 of the cable 16. In certain applications, it would be desirable to have a short a wire as possible extending from the lower end of the cable outer insulation 17. The latter is inhibited in the prior art by the frictional force of the grippers that cause the wire to bend when pulling the wire by hand therebetween, the wire therefore not being the shortest possible.